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Filmmaker Greg Lovett said he did not want to make a depressing movie about burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq. “I just wanted to present the facts, and the facts are depressing,” he said. During these conflicts, rather than dispose of waste safely, commanders ordered it to be burned in huge, open-air pits where the fires often raged 24/7/365. Jessey …

In a significant development for former Iraq contractors, an administrative law judge from the Department of Labor, which administers the Defense Base Act, ruled that there is a link between burn pits and lung disease. In a well-reasoned, 19-page decision, ALJ Christopher Larsen considered the claim of Specialist Veronica Landry. Between 2004 and 2005, she worked for a KBR division …

Although Vladimir Putin does not want people to know it, mercenaries fight for money in Syria, while contractors fight for America in Afghanistan. When Russian military forces arrived in the country in 2015 to prop up the pro-Russian strongman in a longstanding civil war, mercenaries arrived, as well. Officially, 28 Russian mercenaries have died in Syria during 2017 alone, but …

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is proceeding full steam ahead with the prosecution of several former Blackwater guards who served in Iraq, much to the chagrin of many people. Given the issues in the case and the somewhat political nature of the prosecutions, many hoped that Attorney General Sessions would at least order a review of the case. But that has …

The DoD’s heavy reliance on military contractors in places like Afghanistan is one reason why there are an estimated 44,000 troops deployed worldwide who are listed in an amorphous “unknown” category. 1.3 million active duty military personnel serve throughout the world, but this figure does not include military contractors, National Guard, or Reserve forces. In a press briefing unveiling the …